Do Employees Have Any Specific Duties Under LOLER? What the Law Says

If you run a business with lifting equipment, it pays to know exactly where the legal weight falls. Is it on you, or on the people operating the kit? And if you are the operator, what are you actually on the hook for? Here is a clear answer on whether employees have specific duties under LOLER, what they are still responsible for, and where the line sits.

In South England? Request an exact quote for LOLER inspection ➜

Crane, covered by LOLER

Do Employees Have Any Specific Duties Under LOLER?

Not directly. LOLER places its specific duties on employers and duty holders, the people who own, operate or control lifting equipment, rather than on employees. Employees do still have important general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management Regulations, and those apply to how lifting equipment is used every day.

This catches a lot of people out. The legal buck for LOLER stops with the employer, but that does not let the people using the equipment off the hook. Their responsibilities simply come from a different piece of law.

Where the Legal Duty Actually Sits

Under LOLER, the duty holder is responsible for making sure lifting equipment is suitable, properly marked, maintained, and thoroughly examined. The HSE's LOLER guidance is clear that these duties fall on whoever owns, operates or controls the equipment.

That includes arranging the statutory examination. A LOLER examination is carried out by a competent person at set intervals, and it is the duty holder's job to make sure it happens. It is not something an operator can sign off themselves.

The employer is also responsible for training, planning and supervising lifting operations, and keeping the records. These are the heart of LOLER, and they sit firmly on the business, not the individual.

What Employees Must Still Do

Even though these sit outside LOLER itself, in our experience they are the duties that matter most on the ground:

• Take reasonable care of their own safety and that of anyone affected by how they use the equipment

• Use lifting equipment only as they have been trained, and in line with the instructions provided

• Carry out basic pre-use checks before starting work

• Report any faults, damage or concerns to a supervisor straight away

• Never exceed the safe working load, or use equipment for a job it is not designed for

• Cooperate with examinations and supervision, and never bypass or disable a safety feature

A forklift operator's daily walk-around is a good example. It is not the same thing as a statutory forklift inspection, but both matter, and they work together. The operator spots the obvious problems day to day, while the formal examination catches the things that need trained eyes and proper testing.

Pre-Use Checks Are Not the Same as a Thorough Examination

A pre-use check is the quick visual and functional check an operator does before using the equipment, looking for obvious damage or faults. A thorough examination is the formal, in-depth assessment carried out by a competent person at set intervals. Employees handle the first, duty holders arrange the second.

Confusing the two is a common mistake. We have seen businesses assume that because operators are checking the kit each morning, the statutory examination is covered. It is not. The two are separate, and you need both. Our thorough examination services cover the formal side, but the daily checks are still down to your team.

In South England? Request an exact quote for LOLER inspection ➜

Why This Matters for Your Business

The legal responsibility under LOLER is yours as the employer. You cannot pass it down to an operator, and an inspector will hold the business to account, not the person who happened to be using the equipment that day.

That said, the businesses with the fewest problems, in our experience, are the ones where reporting a fault is normal and quick. Where employees understand their general duties and use them, defects get spotted early and the statutory examination becomes a confirmation rather than a nasty surprise. Getting both halves working together is what keeps people safe and your equipment compliant.